Press Briefing by External Affairs Minister Mr. Yashwant Sinha and U.S. Secretary of State Mr. Colin Powell

Press Briefing by External Affairs Minister Mr. Yashwant Sinha and U.S. Secretary of State Mr. Colin Powell

March 16, 2004
New Delhi

OFFICIAL SPOKESPERSON: Good Afternoon Friends. Welcome to the Joint Press Interaction with the External Affairs Minister and the visiting US Secretary of State. As usual, may I request External Affairs Minister Mr. Yashwant Sinha to kindly make his opening remarks.

MR. YASHWANT SINHA: Thank You Navtej. Friends, I am very happy to welcome Secretary of State Colin Powell to Delhi. As you are aware we had extensive discussions in Washington in January when I was there. I am particularly happy that the two of us have got this opportunity to exchange notes once again, exchange views on a number of issues today in our discussions. The main thrust of our discussion today has been further strengthening of our bilateral relationship. As you are aware, I have said this and Secretary Powell has said this on occasions in the past, that India-US relationship today is perhaps the best ever. We are very happy that it is this way. We have the largest area of understanding on all the issues in our bilateral relationship and issues in the region and internationally. Today we have discussed in the context of our bilateral relationship and further strengthening of this relationship the next steps on what is popularly known as the Quartet issues. We have followed up on the discussions which had taken place earlier. Both sides are very keen that the statement which was issued by President Bush on the 12th of January and Prime Minister of India on the 13th of January should be followed up energetically and expeditiously and we have agreed on a line of approach which will enable us to do that. We have spent a substantial part of our time discussing the economic relationship between our two countries which includes trade, investment, technology and how we can take it further forward. As you are aware, Under Secretary Larsen is here, who looks after economic relationship in the US State Department. He has had very productive discussions with the Economic Advisor of the Prime Minister, Dr. Narayan. We had an opportunity of going over what they discussed. We have agreed that over the next month or so at the official level further discussions will be carried out. The objective is that at the end of these discussions there should be a clear roadmap with milestones for enhancing and strengthening the economic engagement between India and US and take it further.

The issue of outsourcing also came up. We have agreed that we will remain engaged on this issue, and that we will not allow this or any other issue to create any misunderstandings between us. We have quickly reviewed the regional situation, though, as you are aware, we will be spending more time over a working lunch and discuss these issues further. But I will end my presentation at this point of time by saying that we are very happy that Secretary of State Colin Powell is here. This is a demonstration and a proof of the intense engagement that India and US have had in terms of the vision of President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee. At all other levels there have been again very intense contacts and discussions. So, I will end here and hand over to Navtej.

OFFICIAL SPOKESPERSON: I now request Secretary of State Mr. Colin Powell to make his opening remarks.

MR. COLIN POWELL: Thank you very much Mr. Minister. It is a great pleasure to be back in New Delhi and to have the opportunity once again to exchange views with you. Unlike my previous visits to New Delhi since I became Secretary of State, this visit would be focussed almost exclusively on our bilateral relationship. I certainly agree with you that the United States and India are enjoying perhaps the best relationship as existed between our two great democracies in many many years, if not in history. I am pleased that the dialogue is so open and so candid on all of the outstanding issues and all aspects of our agenda. As you noted we had a good discussion on Next Steps in our Strategic Partnership. We are going to follow up with further meetings and discussions as to how to move NSSP, as it is called, along. The bulk of our discussions, as the Minister noted, was on economic issues, as it should be, because there are great opportunities for both Americans and Indians to work together to improve trade, to make sure that we are improving trade-related benefits to both of our people. We have some new ideas that we are going to pursue. As the Minister mentioned, Under Secretary Larsen has been here and in the near future we will engage with the Indian side on how to move forward on reform to make more opportunities available to American businessmen.

The issue of outsourcing was discussed. Outsourcing is a reality of the 21st century global environment; both outsourcing and insourcing. While we have outsourced some jobs and positions to India, there are opportunities for Americans as well to service Indian needs. We hope that India understands the need for reform so that we can have more opportunities here. Outsourcing invariably does result in the loss of jobs. We have to do a better job in the United States to give jobs in the United States, of creating opportunities in the United States to provide more jobs so that those who have lost jobs will have opportunities in the future. But it is a reality of 21st century international economics that these kinds of dislocations will take place. What we have to do is to work to minimize these dislocations and provide new opportunities for workers. This is a major issue that we will be focusing on in the months ahead.

I am also pleased that our military-to-military relationship is thriving. That can be seen in the kinds of exercises we are participating in, with our Navy and with other aspects and elements of our military forces.

We did discuss the regional situation. I am pleased that India and Pakistan are moving ahead with the framework that was laid down between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee in January. I also expressed my appreciation to my Indian colleague for the support they have provided to rebuilding of Afghanistan, the very significant financial contribution that India has made, as well as their contribution to our efforts to reconstruct Iraq with the donation that was made at the Madrid Conference not too long ago.

So, our agenda is a rich one, it is a full one. We will be continuing our discussions over lunch. Mr. Minister, let me just close by saying I appreciate very much your ability to see me today knowing that you had a very busy period of election work and then you will be departing immediately after the meetings to go back to your constituency to continue the important work of democracy.

Thank you very much, Mr. Minister.

QUESTION (ASSOCIATED PRESS): Mr. Secretary, you made a passing reference to India and Pakistan moving ahead with the January agreement. Could you be more specific about the ways in which they are moving ahead with specific reference to Pakistan’s pledge to dismantle the training camps used to infiltrate militants into Kashmir?

MR. COLIN POWELL: As you know, there were eight baskets to the comprehensive dialogue or agreement that the Pakistanis and the Indians entered into. One essential element of this is that there should be an end of cross-border violence and I believe that activity across the Line of Control has gone down significantly. I hope it stays that way. Everybody, of course, would be watching as the spring season approaches, to see that it stays that way. I am pleased that commitments have been made to go after these camps. I will be talking to President Musharraf about this matter when I see him in the next leg of my trip. I think it is important that this kind of activity (should) not only be something for the winter season but it really has to be of a more permanent nature in order for us to see the kind of progress that we are hoping for.

QUESTION (THE HINDU): Secretary of State, my question relates to the comments you have made on your way to India in which you have referred to the fact that you have under consideration the possible sale of F-16s to Pakistan. As I understand it, the economic package that you are offering to Pakistan initially did not include F-16s. Is there a change of thinking or approach about providing F-16s to Pakistan now?

MR. COLIN POWELL: The economic package with respect to Pakistan includes debt relief which has eliminated about 50 per cent of the debt that they owe to the United States and a 3 billion Dollar aid package. That package, as the President presented it last fall, did not include any F-16s. My comment (while) coming over here was that we have to take into consideration any request that was made of us. But no decisions have been made with respect to any particular military package, especially F-16s.

QUESTION (REUTERS): Mr. Secretary, did you get any actual hard assurances from the Foreign Minister regarding India’s actually putting into place export controls so that you can proceed with the kinds of cooperation you have discussed about nuclear energy, space, high technology, and so on? Did you get any commitments in terms of Indian market opening to perhaps attenuate some of the anxieties in the United States about outsourcing? Mr. Minister, if you wish to address that also.

MR. COLIN POWELL: On the NSSP which deals with this, we did have preliminary discussion and we will have more discussions in the course of the day on Phase-1 actions under the NSSP. As you know, Phase-1 substantively calls for export controls and other efforts to be made on the part of the Indians. The plan is a very comprehensive one. It is well laid out. I think it speaks for itself as to what the obligations of both parties are with respect to it.

On market opening, yes, we talked about the desire on the part of the United States to see greater opportunities in India. We hope that as we move forward, as both the Minister and I mentioned earlier, Under Secretary Larsen was here to discuss these items and we hope, as we move forward, we can lay out some of the issues of interest to us, whether it has to do with Foreign Direct Investment, or it has to do with the reform of practices, easing bureaucratic obstacles to entering into Indian markets, and a variety of other issues that trading partners discuss with each other.

MR. YASHWANT SINHA: I think I should respond to this question also though you addressed it to Secretary Powell. I would like to say that liberalization including opening up of the Indian market is a process that we have followed through our reform years for over a decade. This is a process that we are determined to move forward because this is a process which is in the interest of India. It is in the interest of India to integrate with the rest of the global economy and, therefore, autonomously we are following that path. It should not be seen in the context of pressures and counter-pressures. That is why I took the floor to make that point clear.

QUESTION (THE TIMES OF INDIA): Mr. Secretary, I was worrying whether the issue of non-proliferation came up in your discussions, in particular some of the proposals that President Bush made in his speech last month. Is the United States keen to see India sign the Additional Protocol to the NPT even though it is not a signatory, something like Cuba did it before it signed the treaty? Secondly, there is some confusion among the media at least as to what is the level of discussion between US and India regarding India joining or working with the Proliferation Security Initiative. I wonder exactly what proposals are on the table.

MR. COLIN POWELL: We had a good discussion of this. We would like to see India participate in the Proliferation Security Initiative. We decided that we would have our staffs engage on this with respect to understanding of the interdiction principles associated with PSI and how India might contribute to it. So, we are going to increase the dialogue with respect to possible Indian participation.

MR. YASHWANT SINHA: We had a discussion on proliferation or non-proliferation and I think there is a shared concern about the nuclear black market that has existed and the danger of nuclear devices falling in the wrong hands, in the hands of non-state actors or terrorists. This is a shared concern. We also had a discussion on the Proliferation Security Initiative and as Secretary Powell mentioned to you we have decided that we will discuss it in greater depth at the level of officials of the two countries with a view to finding out how India could engage in this full process.

QUESTION (THE TIMES OF INDIA): on the Additional Protocol…

MR. COLIN POWELL & MR. YASHWANT SINHA: No, that did not come up.

QUESTION (FINANCIAL TIMES) :You had said in the context of your discussion on outsourcing that this is a two-way street and that you would like to see India opening up its economy more as well. Is there an implied link there between restraint on your part in terms of maintaining a liberal regime and progress from India in opening up its economy?

MR. COLIN POWELL: No, none whatsoever. There is no quid pro quo here. When you put in place the internet system and when you put in place broadband capabilities where information and services can be moved around the world and connected to other parts of the world with the speed of light, that is something that is now a natural progression and people are going to take advantage of that kind of capability. That gives you the kind of outsourcing that we have seen here. We have also seen outsourcing of jobs in the United States to Mexico, China and to other parts of the world as the global world develops. What we have to do, and what we are doing is making sure that those services that we can provide to the rest of the world, that is so valuable to the rest of the world and that only United States can provide, we should focus on those and make sure that we are training our young people for those kinds of jobs. At the same time we hope that there will be trading opportunities in other parts of the world so that United States can offset the kinds of losses that we get when we outsource jobs to other parts of the world. So, this is the way in which the world is developing but in our discussions today no way did we suggest that openness is some sort of quid pro quo for outsourcing. In fact, quite the contrary we believe that reform and openness benefits both nations independent of what position we might have on outsourcing.

QUESTION (FINANCIAL TIMES): on the specific issue of federal law…

MR. COLIN POWELL: You mean the law that was passed? Well, we do have a law that deals with treasury and transportation. And, of course, we will have to follow the law that was passed by the Congress. But we also need to do a better job of educating our populations on the nature of global environment.

QUESTION (NAVBHARAT TIMES): Many reports have appeared in the US and world media on the role played by various Pakistani regimes, including the present one, in nuclear proliferation. Is the United States Administration still not convinced with the role played by Pakistan as a nation in the spread of WMD technology?

MR. COLIN POWELL: We certainly know the role played by Dr. Khan. We have been aware of this role for sometime. We had intelligence information concerning Dr. Khan, the network, and how that network extended to other parts of the world. We are pleased now that Dr. Khan has acknowledged what he has done and we are pleased that we are getting a great deal of information from Pakistani authorities as a result of their interrogation of Dr. Khan and Dr. Khan’s associates. We are pleased now that that network is being broken up and we are learning more about it. We learnt more about it when the Libyans decided that they should get rid of their Weapons of Mass Destruction. With respect to who else was involved in that network, if anyone within past Pakistani governments or anything that might be taking place of a contemporary nature, I will speak to President Musharraf about this. I am confident that he is determined, as we all should be, to get to the heart of this, to make sure that there is no residual element of this network left. There is much more work to be done but I think we have had a real breakthrough with what Dr. Khan has acknowledged and our ability to roll up different parts of the network. But we cannot be satisfied until the entire network is gone, branch and root.